Dread Keep On

Rip It Up, Issue 220, 1 December 1995, Page 18

Dread Keep On

Ziggy Marley

ffnn the year the S reatest ' ever reggae ißsinger/songwriter of all time should llhave turned 50, David, Stephen, Sharon, and Cedella, Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, release their fifth album, Free Like We Want 2 B.

It’s beyond doubt, even if Robert Nesta Marley had not died in May of 1981, with his influence and legend standing so great, his offspring were destined to live in his shadow, no matter what degree of independence they managed to carve for themselves. Marley’s death from cancer moved Bunny Waller to utter the words: “Sometimes when a singer go, his works go with him, but with Bob Marley it’s different. When he go, it’s like he start livin’, because the things that came out of him were eternal.” Bob Marley,

is not a hard act to follow, he’s downright impossible. The Melody Makers have lived with comparisons to their famous father since the launch of Conscious Party, their debut in 1988, and on through One Bright Day, Jahmekya, and 1993’s Joy and Blues. To some they are little more than a pale imitation of the ‘soul rebel’, to others, Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers are helping keep Bob’s spirit alive. Those aligned with the latter will be especially pleased upon hearing this new album. Though the Melody Makers have taken many musical paths in the past decade, at times matching reggae with hip-hop flavours and more traditional African sounds, Free Like We Want 2 8 is a return to the classic

Marley sound. Just listen to the achingly beautiful ‘Bygones’, written and sung by 23 year old Stephen, who’s glorious voice is only a hair’s breadth away from matching his fathers.

Perhaps the reason for this ‘vintage’ album is due in part to the location of the recording sessions. The Melody Makers went about remodelling the Tuff Gong studio at 56 Hope Road in Jamaica (where the Bob Marley Museum is situated), adding state-of-the-art equipment to the room where the Wallers often recorded.

After a gruelling year long world tour in support of Joy and Blues, the Melody Makers vowed to spend more time at Hope Road, and it is here where David ‘Ziggy’ Marley answers the call from RipitUp. It soon

becomes clear he has ‘ not had an easy day. The band have been rehearsing since dawn and it’s now eight in the evening. Like his father, Ziggy holds a massive passion for soccer, and is hoping to get a game in before the last of the day’s light disappeared. So, there’ll be no Scripture-like answers this time round, Ziggy’s giving the bumrush. "We’re workin’ ‘ard an’ soundin’ good, but it has been a long day. Some a dem gone to play, an’ dat help me relax when we been in the studio.” < How does it feel to be recording and playing in the Wallers’ studio? “The vibes are here, the vibes be where we are. We were all livin’ around the studio many years ago, so the music was always a part of life. But the vibes are ‘ere in the studio, it have a lot to do with why we make this album -ere.” Did that have a heavy effect on the music? "At times, but not at all times. Sometimes the spiritual vibe and music come together, sometimes just the spiritual side come through all by itself.” Is this new album any more popular in Jamaica than the others? "The radio stations and the record stores, dem kinda push reggae back, but people still love the music. People can still enjoy the music even if it not playin’ on the radio every minute.” When the Melody Makers were last in America pushing Joy and Blues, Ziggy told Rolling Stone he hoped the album would deliver a message to the listeners, that “each human being should live to a high standard, and respect earth and respect each human life”. Quite clearly, one human being should also respect the right to let another human being play a game of soccer. Best let this go after one more. After five albums, is Bob's shadow any less? “I don’t t’ink about dat, it’s not on my mind, I jus’ play music. I have no mind to play this music to get out of my father’s legacy or shadow, that’s no why I play music. There’s no reason why I should want to get out of that legacy, ’cause that my own legacy. I jus’ focus and play my music.”

JOHN RUSSELL